PowerShell Quickie: Disable an Exchange Mailbox

powershell_logo.jpg
Though this may very well be the shortest PowerShell Quickie that I could ever post, it might also be one of the most useful. Exchange administrators often have the need to disable a user’s mailbox for one reason or another, but having to use the GUI tools isn’t always the best use of time. Need to disable a user’s mailbox quickly from the command line? One very short line will do it:

Disable-Mailbox <mailboxID>

PowerShell Quickie: Disable ActiveSync for All Mailboxes

powershell_logo.jpg
By default, the ActiveSync protocol is enabled for all users in an Exchange organization, whether or not they even have a mobile device. As a security precaution, you may want to disable the protocol for all mailboxes, and enable it only for select users. The following PowerShell Quickie will disable ActiveSync for all existing mailboxes:

get-Mailbox | set-CASMailbox -ActiveSyncEnabled:$False

Don’t forget to go back and enable ActiveSync for any user that needs it!

Exchange 2007 SP1 Released

Exchange_Logo
Microsoft has officially released the highly anticipated Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Exchange Server 2007. This update includes many improvements and introduces new features for each server role, including new management features, an improved Outlook Web Access, Standby Cluster Replication, and IPv6 support for the upcoming Windows Server 2008. In the near future, I will publish some more detailed in-depth discussions about many of these improvements and new features.

Exchange Server 2007 SP1 can be downloaded immediately from Microsoft.

DST Approaches… AGAIN!

For most people, Daylight Savings Time means nothing more than a little extra daylight, but not to an Exchange administrator. After the DST fiasco that occurred this past spring, nobody is really looking forward to the change back to standard time. If you already applied the updates in the spring for Windows, Exchange and Outlook, and you have automatic updates turned on, and you have no users in the newly affected time zones, you should not have to do anything for the changes this fall. I know… it’s a lot of ands.

If you did not update your organization in the spring, or are just unsure, please read on.   More…

Whitepaper Published

A whitepaper that I wrote for Global Knowledge on Exchange Server 2007 has just been posted online. For those that might be interested, you can find it at the Global Knowledge web site. Just click on the ‘Knowledge Center’ link and then ‘White Papers’.

For those that just don’t get enough information from the whitepaper, I will also be hosting a free online Webinar on October 25th, 2006 at 11 a.m. Eastern. If interested, register online at Global Knowledge. You can find more information under ‘Web Seminars’.